Agenda

Agenda

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Contact: Hannah Carmody-Brown, Committee & Member Services Officer  email  standards@oxford.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

2.

Declarations of Interest

3.

Government Consultation on Standards pdf icon PDF 113 KB

The Monitoring Officer has submitted a report to seek the comments in relation to the Government’s consultation on changes to the Standards regime.

 

Recommendation(s): That Standards Committee:

 

1.    Note the Government’s consultation ‘Strengthening the standards and conduct framework for local authorities in England” on proposed changes to the standards regime including the proposals of creating more significant sanctions for members found in breach and the possibility of an established independent body to deal with standards issues.

2.    Note that this has been shared with group leaders and the Independent Person for them to also respond.

3.    Confirm whether the Committee would like to submit any responses and, if so, confirm what those responses should be.

 

 

 

 

Additional documents:

4.

Matters exempt from publication and exclusion of the public

If the Committee wishes to exclude the press and the public from the meeting during consideration of any aspects of the preceding agenda items it  will be necessary for Council to pass a resolution in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 specifying the grounds on which their presence could involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as described in specific paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act if and so long as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. (The Access to Information Procedure Rules – Section 15 of the Council’s Constitution – sets out the conditions under which the public can be excluded from meetings of the Council).

5.

Code of Conduct Report pdf icon PDF 85 KB

The Head of Law, Governance, and Strategy has submitted a report to determine next steps following the conclusion of an investigation into complaints against two members that they have breached the Members’ Code of Conduct.

 

Recommendation(s): That the Standards Committee resolves to:

 

1.    Note the investigation report appended to the report as Appendix 2 (on the exempt part of the agenda)

2.    Decide whether the complaints to which the investigation report relate, that two members of the Council breached the Members’ Code of Conduct, should be dealt with by local resolution or local hearing before the Standards Committee.

 

 

Additional documents:

6.

Dates of future meetings

The Committee is scheduled to meet at 6.00pm on the following dates:

 

·       11 March 2025

·       3 July 2025

·       13 November 2025